Art Feeds Drury @artfeedsdrury-blog - Tumblr Blog

Semester Reflection

This year has been eventful in our Summit Leadership house. Overall, we have kept with the proposals at the beginning of the school year. We had the concert in the first semester which was a success - we raised money for Art Feeds and had a great concert for the people of Springfield. Our main goal of that event was to really raise awareness to the Springfield area. We succeeded in doing so in not just the concert itself, but also by spreading posters advertising for the concert throughout the city and also the tables in the commons made students think, "Hey! I think I've heard of this organization. I want to learn more about it." So the concert was a great success.

The other even that we have proposed to the committee at the beginning of the year was possibly having an art drive. We have just completed this event not long ago and I believe we raised around $100 to go directly to Art Feeds. We also raised unused Art Supplies which is great for the end of the year. Even if a student was just able to give some change, it really added up into something substantial.

Other "small" projects we helped out with were the mural and some other projects. The mural was painted at Cecil Elementary School and some 200 volunteers including us helped in the week's time. We helped for two days, but they were a very productive two days. We helped the team paint most of the walls, although they still needed some extra coats after we left. It was a very fun experience for all of our members who went and would probably help with a project like this again if we were given the opportunity.

In recent weekends, some of the members of our group went to Joplin to help out with some events. One of the events included face painting and the members that went had an awesome time. Not only was it a bomb-diggity time for our group members, but the children had a blast, too!

Art Feeds is really an amazing organization and their entrance in many contests for grants shows this attribute. Although they haven't won a grand prize yet, their time will come, but for now the national publicity that they do get is really bringing awareness to this small organization and is making it into something even more amazing. It's awesome to see how one person's dream can turn into something that can change the lives of thousands of children.

In other news, one of our members,Micha Willis, who is really talented at graphic design has received an internship over the summer to be a graphic designer for Art Feeds. This is such great news that one of our members gets to continue her experience and journey with Art Feeds and continue to make a difference in children's lives.

The theme won't show captions (problem fixed soon)

As for now here is the caption on the paint post:

CECIL FLOYD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MURAL PROJECT

PAINT!!! On March 18th and 19th (during Spring Break 2013 WOOT WOOT!!), a portion of our house (5) who did not have prior Spring Break plans set out to Joplin to make a change to the lives of some 600 elementary children. What better way to do this than to help paint a mural of drawings made by none-other-than the students themselves!!

The directors of Art Feeds had the elementary kids draw pictures of things and animals they saw fitting for themes such as underwater, safari, outdoor adventure, and butterflies and bunnies. Art Feeds then took all the drawings and scanned them into a computer where graphic designers photoshopped all the pictures together to make one very long mural that would border the of the main “pentagon”. The students left for spring break and the teams moved in. They projected the mural on the wall and outlined all of the drawings exactlyhow the kids drew them. Next, they ordered paint and color coded all of the drawings to make it easier for us, the volunteers, to paint the wonderful creations.

Our days started at 8AM. We had bright, gleaming faces of excitement. Joining us, was a group of high school students from St. Louis area as well as a local church group and other members from various schools. We were first put on paint duty which included pouring paint from the gallons into cups and making sure they had paint brushes, and handing them to the students to get started on painting. Next involved sorting the gallons of paint to match the themes of the walls. We were then able to join the students in painting the mural. After lunch, the students had left and we had space to breathe. Until about 2PM, we painted till our elbows were cramping and our backs were getting sore. We then helped with the clean up: pouring the paint back into the gallons, washing brushes, closing lids, and making sure no paint was where it wasn’t supposed to be.

Overall, we had a very enjoyable time and really made good headway for the next set of volunteers the later days. In all, there were 200 volunteers, 47 gallons of paint, 279 paint brushes, 40 ladders, and 22 colors. More information and pictures can be found HERE.

WHALE WHALE WHALE what do we have here?

#me

MORE PICTURES!!

#me

CECIL FLOYD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL MURAL PROJECT

The directors of Art Feeds had the elementary kids draw pictures of things and animals they saw fitting for themes such as underwater, safari, outdoor adventure, and butterflies and bunnies. Art Feeds then took all the drawings and scanned them into a computer where graphic designers photoshopped all the pictures together to make one very long mural that would border the of the main "pentagon". The students left for spring break and the teams moved in. They projected the mural on the wall and outlined all of the drawings exactly how the kids drew them. Next, they ordered paint and color coded all of the drawings to make it easier for us, the volunteers, to paint the wonderful creations.

#me

Second Semester: What's Going On

Hello everyone,

It's been a while, so we want to take the time to catch you up.

First things first, we will no longer be writing separate blogs unless we get a strong urge to post our personal thoughts to Tumblr. This is so you don't have to read 8 different blog posts that are some what repetitive.

If you don't remember, we were campus representatives last semester for Art Feeds. This semester we decided to take a slightly different direction and become volunteers for Art Feeds. What this means is that we'll actually go to Joplin and volunteer with other people involved with the organization.

The first thing on our volunteer agenda is a mural painting in a Joplin school during a portion of spring break. Most of our group will be driving down the 18th and 19th to help paint the mural from 8-3 PM each day.

We're hoping more volunteer opportunities arise throughout the semester.

Lastly, we are planning an art drive to be held at the end of the year. We are currently gathering up raffle items and discounts from local stores for those who donate. Anyone will be able to donate supplies leftover from the school year AND/OR new supplies.

That's all for now,

Art Feeds Summit Group

P.S Here's Art Feeds doing the Harlem Shake. Enjoy!

Kayleen's End of Semester Reflection

Our Summit group has accomplished a lot this semester. Taking on a big project, like our benefit concert, was a major task. We ended up teaming up with a group from Missouri State University, who was also working with Art Feeds this semester, to plan and produce the benefit concert. Between both groups we made/hung up posters, got small businesses to sponsor the concert and found and booked the venue and bands that performed. Working with the group from MSU was a major help. At the concert we greeted people at the door, sold Art Feeds merchandise and helped promote the $1 million grant they were up for (which, sadly, they did not win).

Our main goal for this semester was to promote Art Feeds in the Springfield area because not many people here know about the organization. I believe that the benefit concert was a great promoter for Art Feeds. A little over 100 people attended our concert. Even though that is not as many as we were expecting, all of those people now know about Art Feeds and will most likely tell their friends and family about Art Feeds. Word of mouth is a very fast and effective way to promote things. By accomplishing putting together a concert, we accomplished promoting Art Feeds as well.

I believe that, personally, I accomplished how to work better with other people. Usually I like to work by myself and do things the way I want them done. I've learned that having seven other people and their ideas is a much better way to work. If we hadn't had seven other people working on this concert, it never would have been accomplished.

A Look Back On The Semester: Jacob Nentrup

This semester turned out to be a huge success for my group on promoting Art Feeds. Our first event promoting Art feeds at Drury University was a huge success we spread awareness and had people vote for Art Feeds in the VH1 do something awards. Later when the award was announced we found out Art Feeds had been named one of the five finalist for the awards. Because of our help and the support of anybody who voted for Art Feeds they were awarded $10,000.

Our benefit concert also went very well we had over 120 people show up to help Art Feeds. We also had lots of people vote for Art feeds who were in the running for the American giving awards.

I look forward to next semester as we continue to promote Art Feeds and help with the kids.

Semester’s End (^o^)y - Trevor Wellman

Since the semester is coming to an end, everyone at school is either buckling down to get those last excellent grades or losing all hope for humanity. I can’t believe how far we’ve gotten with our Art Feeds project! (>*-*>) So... I have decided to make this a super happy post celebrating the accomplishments that Art Feeds Summit has done for the Art Feeds organization in Joplin, MO. (^o^)

Our first accomplishment, I’d like to say, is getting such an awesome organization to partner with. Meg Bourne-Hulsey has been such a big inspiration to our Summit group and shows what a person can do with hard work and determination. She started Art Feeds at the age of 19, our age, and I find that crazy how great her leadership skills are and how her dream potential came true with such great results. ^(*-*)^

Our second accomplishment was the Activities fair in the beginning or the year. This allowed us to get a big start with our project and to quickly raise awareness to the organization and show that it is getting to be nationally known. \(*O*)/ We had students vote for Art Feeds for a grant in return for helpful information about the organization and cute tattoos and stickers! But yes, we had people sign a paper with their information and told them about our Facebook and Twitter pages.

After this, we started planning for our benefit concert that was held on November 28th. We made fliers and worked with MSU to team up and become one big team in to take on the mission to support Art Feeds and bring more awareness into the Springfield area. We didn’t have AS many people as we hoping for come to the concert, but it was still a good amount and was awesome for most of our first concerts we’ve held. All done and said, I would say it was a success! (^w^)

Our final accomplishment was having voting tables at the Commons the last few weeks to vote for Art Feeds for the AGA giving awards, which sadly they did not win, but we still got a lot of votes and got positive comments for working with Art Feeds!

Overall, this is an excellent organization to work with and an excellent organization leader working to help us bring Art Feeds awareness into the Springfield area. Also, Micha Willis has been an excellent leader for our household and should receive extra credit or something for all her hard work and keeping up with Meg and getting her feedback. (^;_;^)

So excited for next semester to be able to have a more interactive, hands-on approach and be able to get to meet some of the kids involved in the program! ∩( ・ω・)∩

#Trevor

Semester Reflection

Our group’s main goal for the year was to enlighten the Springfield community about Art Feeds, the non-profit organization which focuses on providing support for children who have been affected by different traumatic events. Our group organized various strategies in order to accomplish this overall task. The events our group had organized during the semester have all assisted us in our abilities to promote the organization throughout the Springfield community. Fortunately each planned event this semester has been successful and assisted us in accomplishing the ultimate goal.

Planning and hosting the Art Feeds benefit concert in the Gillioz Theatre was an extraordinary accomplishment. Planning benefits concerts requires an extensive amount of time, patience, and money. Several times students feel as if they failed or wasted their devoted time to the project, because the project does not highlight the results the students had hoped for. Our group needed to communicate with its members efficiently and attempt to coordinate times to meet as a group, which did not conflict with our schedules. In addition we chose to collaborate with a group from Missouri State University who were also serving as campus representatives. Our group’s decision to collaborate with these students made the task of the project even more difficult to complete, however it strengthen my communication skills. Throughout the project I needed to communicate with individuals whom I knew personally and with strangers. I collaborated with members of my group throughout the project. In addition I asked for sponsorships and support from local businesses in Springfield, which in itself was an experience. Planning a successful benefit concert takes persistence, determination, devotion, patience, and good communication. I believe I have benefited my leadership ability by strengthening these aspects of my leadership qualities. The ability to strengthen my leadership qualities was my individual best accomplishment. In the end the Summit Leadership experience should strengthen a students ability to lead. The type of work and planning that Summit requires will automatically benefit individuals.

This project has been a success. We have supported Art Feeds in their efforts to promote their mission to larger audiences. We have helped them allocate votes for different prestigious awards and lead new supporters for the organization. Our principle goal this semester was to support Art Feeds by promoting their organization. Our group has accomplished much great success throughout this semester due to our various group projects. In addition we have all practiced the experience to “plan a large scaled event. The project required allot of time and planning from all of the participants. The ability to plan efficiently in a group will be a great benefit for all of us.

Next spring our group intends interact and communicate with the children. Many times these types of events are the most special and rewarding. I felt accomplished hosting a successful benefit concert, because it is not a simple task. Although this accomplishment was rewarding, I intend for the interactions our group develops with the children to be the most rewarding. These interactions are truly humbling moments, because individuals begin to appreciate the blessings they have. I expect for members from our group to become more sensitive and humble for their lives, because the majority of individuals do not live the normal lives (our standard of life) we do. I’m excited for next semester and the opportunity we will have to interact with the children.

Carlos-Xavier Zambrano

#Carlos

Semester Reflection: Laura Westfall

I can't believe this semester is almost over! Time has gone by so fast and we have definitely stayed busy. Hosting a benefit concert for the first time was a lot of work and a lot of fun. We had a lot of accomplishments this semester and I have had so much fun working with this group of people.

As a group our biggest accomplishment was definitely the benefit concert. We started planning back in September and were consistently working on it. While we did not have the attendance we were hoping for we still accomplished a lot, raised money and got votes for Art Feeds. Through all the work we did for the concert we grew a lot as a group. We learned each other's strengths and used them to help in the betterment of the project. Everyone has such different and unique personalities and skills that they were able to bring to the group. Without everyone's efforts, we would have not been able to accomplish what we did.

As well for many of us this was the first benefit concert we had ever hosted. While at first some of us thought this was a lot to take on, we knew we could get it done. We all had the determination and want for the concert to be the best it could be. We had a lot of people doubt us in being able to pull it off, but that just made us want to make it even better. I think we can all say for the first concert we've put on it went pretty well.

While we had a lot of accomplishments as a group, we all had our personal accomplishments as well. For me I definitely improved my communication skills. I am not always the best when it comes to communication. I get nervous when talking to people I don't know that well and especially when having to ask for donations. But after spending a few hours talking to different businesses I started to gain confidence and it no longer bothered me. I also feel that my communication in a group has improved a lot. With having such a busy schedule this semester, I had to make sure I was always trying to help out when I could. I made sure to keep in contact with people, make sure that things were going smoothly and help in any way I could in getting things done for the concert. I also think for me helping plan and host a benefit concert was a huge accomplishment. I have planned dances and smaller events but nothing as big as a benefit concert. I feel that I learned a lot through helping put on this concert. I also have became a lot closer to everyone in the group and have loved working and living together this last semester. I'm really excited to see what more we will accomplish next semester.

Next semester we are planning on going to Joplin and helping out with the program in person. I am really excited to see for myself what Art Feeds does and get the chance to help out. I'm excited to get to work with the kids and hopefully make a difference in someone's life. I know we are all excited to continue to help out Art Feeds.

#Laura

Semester's Ending, But We're Just Getting Started-Micha's Perspective

As this semester comes to an end, all I can say is, wow. We've accomplished so much in such a short amount of time and we still have a whole other semester left.

As a group, we've accomplished huge goals. Most importantly, we successfully put together a community benefit concert that benefited Art Feeds. There were a few individuals that warned us how hard it would be and others that said go for it. Attendance wasn't as awesome as we were imagining, but we did it, the bands rocked (literally and figuratively) and we had fun doing it.

Individually, it's hard to pinpoint specific things I've accomplished. I know I've bettered myself as a leader and my communication skills, but this is a group project. Without my group I probably would have a head full of grey hair by now from all the stress, along with unsuccessful stories of a benefit concert.

We've learned a LOT this semester. Throughout the planning process, we learned how to best communicate with each other. Whether it's having meetings late at night or sending mass text messages, we figured it out. This will be beneficial next semester when organizing new events. We also learned how generous a community can be. Thank you again to our sponsors, supporters, event attendees, voters, helpers, families and friends. We couldn't have done any of this without you all.

Next semester, we want to do more with the kiddos involved with the Art Feeds programs. We're hoping it will be possible to go to Joplin and volunteer on site.

Well, that's it for this year. I hope you all have a Happy Holiday!

-Micha

P.S Tune into NBC tonight at 7 to see if Art Feeds is a American Giving Awards winner!

#art #art feeds #artist #college #creativity #leadership #students #Micha

End of Semester Reflection - Marissa Brown

I can’t believe this semester is already over! It seems like just yesterday our group of eight was moving into our Summit house, and discussing all of the plans we had to promote Art Feeds over the semester. It’s crazy to believe that the semester is over, but even crazier that we accomplished so much for Art Feeds this semester!

We successfully raised awareness for Art Feeds on Drury’s campus. We handed out flyers that told more about Art Feeds, and their mission, to students and faculty. We created social media sites so students and faculty could stay up-to-date on all things Art Feeds, including what our Summit group, “Art Feeds Drury,” was planning. We went out and just talked to people about how great Art Feeds is. We also set up voting tables on campus, so that more students and faculty could get involved by helping us help Art Feeds win some pretty substantial grants.

In August, as a finalist in the “VH1 Do Something Awards,” Art Feeds won a $10,000 grant!! And, more recently, Art Feeds was one of 25 not-for-profit organizations nominated for NBC’s “American Giving Awards.” The organization with the most votes on Facebook will win a $1,000,000 grant! And, the other top four organizations will split another $1,000,000! The results for these amazing awards will air TONIGHT on NBC at 7:00 pm Central. Together, Art Feeds Drury, the community at Drury, and the community of Springfield helped Art Feeds gain over 200 votes for the American Giving Awards!! This was a huge accomplishment for us, and we want to thank anyone who voted and helped Art Feeds!

This semester, we were also able to accomplish two large goals with one event: our Art Feeds Benefit Concert. We had the goal to spread awareness about Art Feeds beyond Drury’s campus into the larger community of Springfield. From the beginning, we had also wanted to hold a benefit concert for Art Feeds. By holding the benefit concert off campus, at the Gillioz Theatre, and inviting the public, we were able to accomplish both goals. By teaming up with another group of students from Missouri State, who were also working with Art Feeds, we were able to make the concert bigger and better. We held the benefit concert on November 28th, and were able to get four bands to play (for free). The whole concert was a large success. We raised some money for Art Feeds through ticket sales and the sale of merchandise. We were also able to get about 120 votes for Art Feeds in the American Giving Awards at our concert. Pictures from the concert can be found under the “links” tab on this blog.

Being part of a group that has accomplished so much this semester, it is almost impossible to not feel like I have accomplished a lot as an individual. Being a member of Art Feeds Drury this semester, I have strengthened my communication skills greatly, as well as my time-management skills. Being a full-time student, with a part-time job, it was sometimes difficult to be on top of everything all of the time. But, sitting here and looking back on the semester, I am extremely proud of how well I managed my school work, work-work, and Art Feeds Drury. I feel so accomplished to have helped spread the awareness of Art Feeds throughout Springfield, and to have held a steady job all the while keeping up with my school work. I am so blessed for this opportunity, and I cannot wait for next semester when our group will be working more “hands-on” with the kiddos in Joplin!

Stay tuned for more exciting news about Art Feeds and Art Feeds Drury! And don’t forget to watch the American Giving Awards TONIGHT on NBC, at 7 pm Central!!!

#Marissa